SUBSIDIARY ORGANS

At 3:00 pm the Committee reconvened for an informal session to
exchange views on the programme of work. Kjelln began the
discussion by outlining some of his own ideas. He commented that
experience has shown that the Committee will need subsidiary organs
(working groups) to negotiate a convention of this kind. However,
there should never be any more than two working groups meeting at
one time and these groups should not meet between sessions. The
mandates of these working groups should be fixed in Nairobi, so
that the working groups could start to operate during the second
session. He added that the purpose of the Committee is to negotiate
a convention to combat desertification and that all the other
elements in the title, including the special concern for Africa,
should be in the form of an annex or protocol, as this regional
aspect is an important part of the convention. While the Committee
is giving specific attention to Africa at this stage, other parts
of the world should have specific protocols or annexes in the
future.

The afternoon's discussion was a productive one. Mauritania
suggested that there should be only two working groups, to decrease
pressure on small delegations. Furthermore, he suggested that the
groups be established and their bureaus elected during this
organizational session. He also added that the terms of reference
for the working groups should be thematic rather than geographical.

The US proposed that the working groups meet sequentially to deal
first with the convention and then address the protocol. Benin
supported the idea of two working groups that would meet
simultaneously. He also suggested that there be no more than three
people in each bureau -- a Chair, a Vice-Chair and a Rapporteur. He
added that the Chair of one working group should be from the north
and the Chair of the other group should be from the south. Algeria
proposed that the Committee give its Bureau the mandate to hold
consultations to determine the terms of reference to these working
groups.

Peru agreed that at least the Chairs of the working groups should
be elected at this session and proposed that since there would be
six positions (three for each working group) and there are five
regional groups that maybe the African Group could nominate a Chair
for one working group and a Rapporteur for the other. A number of
other delegates, including Denmark, Colombia, France and Venezuela
supported these proposals.

The discussion then shifted to the scientific panel of experts.
Resolution 47/188 established a "multidisciplinary panel of
experts" to assist the Secretariat. Diallo explained that its
budget will allow the Secretariat to establish a 12-member group
that will include natural scientists, social scientists and experts
on drought and desertification, from as broad a geographical
distribution as possible. The Secretariat is currently creating the
panel and Diallo expressed hope that the first meeting will take
place in late February. In response to questions about nominations
and the logistics of the panel, Diallo said that all of the
meetings of the panel would take place in Geneva. The members of
the panel will be appointed privately and not necessarily be
employed by their governments. The Secretariat is asking relevant
UN agencies for recommendations and will make the final
appointments soon. A number of delegates said that their
governments would like to make nominations to this panel. Concern
was expressed by some that this panel not become an
intergovernmental body, but remain an independent panel of
scientific experts.

Kjelln then adjourned the informal meeting and, after consulting
with the Bureau, convened the third meeting of the INC-D at 5:30
pm. He summarized the consensus reached during the informal
discussion:

The INC-D will establish two working groups that will meet for the first time at the second substantive session in September 1993.

Each working group will have a three-person bureau: one Chair, one Vice-Chair and one Rapporteur. One of the working groups will be chaired by a representative of a developing country and the other will be chaired by a representative of a developed country.

It is desirable to proceed with the election of these officers during the present session. Equal geographic representation should be used and Africa will provide one Chair and one Rapporteur.

The terms of reference of the working groups has not been determined, but the Chair has been mandated to undertake consultations and present a proposal before or at the Nairobi session.

Kjelln proposed that the Committee adjourn for the day and
reconvene the next morning. He also suggested that the Committee
not meet in the afternoon so that the regional groups might have an
opportunity to meet and discuss their nominations to the bureaus of
the working groups. After a brief discussion on the logistics of
this work plan, the Committee adjourned for the day.